BC Civic Election Endorsements

There are several key candidates running in BC’s civic elections, and anyone in the world can help donate to their campaigns.

Elect Randy Caine in Langley

One key figure on BC’s municipal scene is Randy Caine, who is running for a seat on Langley City Council.

Randy Caine has been involved in the cannabis movement for many years. In 2008, Caine opened a store called Hempyz in Langley, which quickly saw opposition from City Hall and Mayor Fassbender. Even though the store didn’t carry pipes or bongs, just the image of the pot leaf and the presence of hemp products was enough for the Mayor and Council to attack the shop.

City council fined Randy $100 a day, and finally forced him to remove all “hemp products” from the store before giving him a business license.

In 2009, Caine opened the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary, serving 150 local patients with legitimate ailments with medicinal cannabis products. Caine’s dispensary was raided in June 2011, in an RCMP crackdown which included raids on dispensaries in Comox, Chilliwack and Burnaby.

Caine re-opened the dispensary in late September, and then announced his run for a seat on Langley City Council. RCMP finally laid charges in October.

With a low voter turnout of only 20% in 2008, Caine will need to get about 2000 votes to win a council seat.

Electing Randy Caine to Langley City Council is very important for the medical cannabis movement in BC. His victory will be a victory for every patient and dispensary in the province.

Anyone in the world can legally donate to Randy’s election campaign. Plus his campaign is set up so that anyone can help to make campaign phone calls from the comfort of their own home. Call Randy’s campaign at 604-530-3424.

Elect David Bratzer in Victoria

Police office David Bratzer is running become School Board Trustee of the Greater Victoria School District (SD #61). His campaign theme is “Schools Not Prisons” and recognizes education as a major factor in determining whether a young person ends up in jail.

Bratzer has served Esquimalt and Victoria as a police of?cer for the past six years, and was one of the first serving police officers in North America to call for an end to the failed War on Drugs. He is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and is known for his plain-spoken manner of dealing with tough issues.

Bratzer is also passionate about education, and he has already been endorsed by the local NDP MP, Denise Savoie, as well was the Greater Victoria Teacher’s Association (representing 1400 teachers). He expects more endorsements to be coming in over the coming weeks.

Bratzer is seeking volunteers, especially on November 19, election day!

Anyone in the world can legally donate to a BC municipal election campaign, so if you’re reading this then you can help to make sure that Randy Caine and David Brazter get elected.

http://www.bratzer.net/

http://www.facebook.com/davidbratzer

Elect Vision & COPE in Vancouver

In Vancouver, I am endorsing Gregor Robertson and the Vision / COPE coalition.

Vision/COPE fought to keep Insite open, and have supported expanding supervised injection sites throughout the city.

Vision/COPE have also presided over the largest expansion of medical cannabis dispensaries in Vancouver history. They have resisted pressure from Harper’s Conservatives, which have set the police upon dispensaries in Burnaby, North Vancouver, Langley and many other cities.

The Vision/COPE council has managed to decrease street homelessness by an astounding 82%! During the winter, they have opened emergency cold weather shelters to ensure that nobody would ever be forced to sleep outside in the cold. This council has also made an unprecedented effort to address affordable housing the City, securing funding for 1500 new units and creating 400 new dedicated rental housing units.

The Vision/COPE council has put Vancouver on course to be the Greenest City in the world, making Vancouver a world leader in building standards, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure .

I spent some time volunteering for the Vision campaign, and I encourage everyone to get involved at the local level. Municipal politics is where your vote and volunteer time has the most impact. No matter where you are, you can volunteer and donate to make sure BC remains a tolerant province, moving towards progressive cannabis and drug policies.

Other notable candidates:

Phillippe Lucas is running for a second term as a Victoria City Councillor. Lucas is the founder of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, and acted as a Director of the organization from 1999 until 2009.

http://philippelucasvictoria.wordpress.com/

Brian Taylor is running for a third term as Mayor of Grand Forks. Taylor served as Mayor from 1997-1999, then became the leader of the BC Marijuana Party for their inaugural 2001 campaign. He was re-elected Mayor in 2008. Taylor has always been a big supporter of cannabis and hemp.

Teresa Taylor is running for a seat on the Kootenay Boundary Regional District, Area D. She is Brian Taylor’s daughter and shares his passion for local politics and pro-cannabis perspective.

http://www.teresataylor.ca

BC CIVIC ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 19! BE SURE TO VOTE!

About Author

Dana Larsen is the author of "Green Buds and Hash" and "Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone" and a well-known Vancouver cannabis activist, businessman and politician.
He served ten years as editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine, is the co-founder of the Vancouver Seed Bank, founder of the Vancouver Dispensary Society, and Vice President of the Canadian Association of Cannabis Dispensaries.
Larsen was a founding member of the BC Marijuana Party and the Canadian Marijuana Party. In 2003 he joined the NDP, running as an NDP candidate in 2008. In 2011, he ran for the Leadership of the BC NDP.
Larsen is also founder and director of Sensible BC, Canada’s largest grassroots cannabis reform organization.

Comments

3 Comments

Dana Larsen on
November 16, 2011 10:36 pm

Elections matter! Voting matters!

Harper is empowered to change Canada because he won a majority government! If there had been a few thousands more NDP voters across Canada then we wouldn’t be facing mandatory minimums and more prisons.

Federally, the only hope for positive change is to elect an NDP government in 2014.

It is because we elected a tolerant Vancouver City Council that we have cannabis dispensaries in Vancouver. A hostile council could have them all shut down.

I’m all for rallies and protests and occupations. But voting is easy and so important. If you’re spending your time protesting but you don’t bother to vote and get politically involved then you’re wasting an opportunity to make real change.

Bud Grinder on
November 16, 2011 8:18 pm

You still think you can change the backwards direction of Harper’s government through the ballot box? Won’t happen so long as those mercenary, ignorant thugs own and control the ballot boxes.

Change will come when FORCED by the public rising up to oppose those evil, self-serving, Bible-thumping political scumbags. Trying to effect change through the ballot box is a futile proposition. It will have to be done by the public in the streets, not the polling place.